He has been exhibiting internationally and nationally since 1996.
An award-winning artist, John won the Kaipara Wallace Arts Trust Award in 2012 and the Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award in 2019.
The sculpture selector is Napier woman Susan Mabin, a multimedia artist working in installation, sculpture, painting and photography.
Susan graduated from EIT's Ideaschool in 2018 with a Master of Professional Creative Practice, having completed a post-graduate diploma in 2016 and her degree in 2014.
She has been a finalist in the NZ National Contemporary Art Award in 2016 and 2017, the Molly Morpeth 3D Canaday Award and the Adam Portraiture Award in 2018, and the Molly Morpeth Canaday Painting and Drawing award in 2019.
The art categories are land, water, people, abstract, and art unlimited, along with a sculpture category.
The category winners will receive a prize of $300, to be awarded on the opening night festivities, which start at 5pm on April 12.
Twelve secondary schools have entered works by a student in the schools category this year for a prize of $250.
Additional prizes to be awarded are: Best in Exhibition ($400), the People's Choice Award ($75), a Mystery Prize ($350) and a Best of the Backroom Prize.
This year's exhibition does not have a Hawke's Bay theme as it did in the past, but artists need to be members of a Hawke's Bay art group or special members of Art Hawke's Bay, with the exception of sculptors.
John Brown will speak at 10.30am on Saturday, April 17 followed by Susan Mabin at 11.30.